I wish I could display or help with one of the collaborative displays, but I've been so busy that my LEGO activity has been 90% collecting and 10% building for the past few years. Being my first time, I didn't want to be completely clueless AND lugging around a mass of LEGO. I'll settle for being "completely clueless" this time, and aim for "lugging around a mass of LEGO" if I make it to another convention someday.

If anybody wants to meet me, I'll attempt to have my classic-castle avatar figure attached to my brick badge or a lanyard. I do intend to participate in Dirty Brickster and Dirty Buildster and some other activities. Maybe the derby if I can get some cars together.

rogue27 wrote:Being my first time, I didn't want to be completely clueless AND lugging around a mass of LEGO. I'll settle for being "completely clueless" this time, and aim for "lugging around a mass of LEGO" if I make it to another convention someday.

You can still lug around a massive amount of LEGO. Just go to the LEGO store!

David

♪ "Whether I'm the last one alive, or ascend before my timeBetter I'm the last one alive, than a soul denied" ♫ —Demon Hunter

rogue27 wrote:Being my first time, I didn't want to be completely clueless AND lugging around a mass of LEGO. I'll settle for being "completely clueless" this time, and aim for "lugging around a mass of LEGO" if I make it to another convention someday.

You can still lug around a massive amount of LEGO. Just go to the LEGO store!

Brickworld went over really well (in my opinion)! A lot of great Castle stuff there, as well as interesting seminars, workshops, creations, and insane parts drafts. Met up with Shadowviking too! Great year. Can't wait for the next one.

Thanks Ben! One of these days I'm gonna have to photograph my layout for all to see. It should be complete by our christmas show so that is my target for photos. Thanks to everyone for sharing their wonderful builds. I just wish I got to meet more people. I walked around mostly in the evenings and few builders were by their MOCs at that time.

I really enjoyed seeing everyone. I am already looking forward to next year!

Well, I went to Brickworld. First LEGO convention I've ever been to. Hopefully not the last.

I met architect, shadowviking, and DaleDVM, and possibly spoke with other forum members that I am not aware of.

There other castle builders I briefly spoke with were:* a guy with "look under the castle" sticky notes on his display.* a guy with characters from Princess Bride, Monty Python, Star Wars, Star Gate, etc hidden in his display.* a guy with "Where's Waldo" hidden in his castle.

There was also a "dominoes" castle I really liked, but I did not see or speak with it's creator. Likewise, there was a table with some nice towers, but nobody was around.

No offense to the other builders, but DaleDVM's display was the best castle display by a wide margin. Very detailed and attractive. There was also a lot of great non-castle stuff, but I won't talk about that here. *cough* NeotroN *cough*

A few general notes:

I have been to gaming tournaments, events, and conventions, and I encounter a lot of bad manners, obnoxious behavior, poor attitudes, and terrible hygiene. I am proud to say that the LEGO community does not suffer from these problems. Everybody was pleasant, well-adjusted, and properly bathed.

Several displays were poorly designed for viewing; tall walls with activity behind them that I basically couldn't see unless I leaned over the stanchions. Sometimes I even had to hold my camera above and take a photo to see what was inside. Considering that, I suspect many of the younger public day visitors missed a lot of detail on certain displays. What looks great on your coffee table or bedroom floor may not look the same on a display table, so be sure to consider how your display will be viewed. I know I will keep that in mind if/when I prepare something for a future convention.

My only regret is that I did not interact with people as much as I would have liked. I have decided that I will not go to another convention unless I have something to display. I think a display is a great icebreaker that would help with the human interaction. Regardless, I had fun and learned a lot.

Again, real sorry I missed this one guys, I had a TON of stuff for the collaborative Castle and Pirate, but travel plans didn't work out. A real shame, I wanted to see ShadowViking's bandit mohawk, I was ready to shoot him in the knee with a bow.

Next year though, I swear by Thorin's Beard that I will make it next year! my 300+ figures, 11+ village buildings and Lizardman army will be ready to help! I also plan to make a life size flag/banner (made of fabric not LEGO lol)of some of the classic Castle faction's coat of arms, thought that would be cool to put next to the display. I think I will try to build some dwarven structures, I like dwarves.

Crazylegoman wrote:It will be interesting to see how things will happen next year with the new larger venue. Hopefully bigger means better.

Has that been confirmed yet? At the closing ceremony, Bryan simply said they were looking into the possibility. I've gotten the impression that the BrickFest and BrickCon guests look down on Brickworld, so I'd like to see Brickworld grow; it's the only LEGO convention I can attend.

rogue27 wrote:Has that been confirmed yet? At the closing ceremony, Bryan simply said they were looking into the possibility. I've gotten the impression that the BrickFest and BrickCon guests look down on Brickworld, so I'd like to see Brickworld grow; it's the only LEGO convention I can attend.

From info at the coordinator meeting, I can say that moving Brickworld to the Renaissance in Schaumburg is a very high possibility. There is a small chance that there could be an economic stumbling block that prevents it, but it's not very likely.

I didn't think that Brickfest even existed anymore. When it did, I attended, and I definitely don't look down on Brickworld. I've never been to BrickCon, so I can't say anything about the feelings of that event's attendees firsthand. I'm not sure what they would hold against Brickworld.

David

♪ "Whether I'm the last one alive, or ascend before my timeBetter I'm the last one alive, than a soul denied" ♫ —Demon Hunter

I don't want to say much and foster ill feelings, but I basically heard that Brickworld was a dive compared to other LEGO conventions. I wasn't given specific reasons. I didn't even realize BrickFest no longer existed, but I always thought that and BrickCon were the bigger ones.

Anyway, it seemed like even the hosts of Brickworld were saying that space was a problem, so maybe that is what the comments meant. If so, that issue is being resolved. Can't wait to see how it turns out next year. I'll probably go. I started talking about budget with my wife a day or two after we got back.

Looking forward to doing everything I didn't do last time, and more of the stuff I did do.